South Twin Drive-In

3172 Irvin Cobb Drive,

Paducah,
KY42003

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The South Twin Drive-In opened in 1954 and was built as a twin-screen theatre. It had a capacity for 1,000 cars and was operated by Columbia Amusement Co. One screen was 100 feet wide and catered for 600 cars, and the second secreen was 78 feet wide and catered for 400 cars. There were cartoon charactors of a couple of Red Indian children and small animals painted on the rear of the main screen.

We lived in this charming Western Kentucky town for year in the mid-70s, when I was a DJ at WKYX. We attended most of the town’s theaters: the Arcade and Columbia, downtown; the Paducah Drive-in; and the modern Paducah Cinema. All of these are now gone. We never managed to get to the South Twin, however. It was no longer a twin at that time. It had been, but one of the screens had been abandoned with only the framework remaining. It sat right at the edge of the parking lot for a pizza shop we frequented, this huge construction of rusting metal with no screen panels. It was still called the South Twin, however. (Hey, why spend money updating your logo?) The only thing I remember about the South “Twin” was that they seemed to play Clint Eastwood’s “High Plains Drifter” as a perpetual second feature. It was almost as if they owned a print. Across the highway were the remains of another drive-in, which had also been a twin. The screens were still up although falling apart, the lot was overgrown and there seemed to be no way of getting in, as a number of small businesses had sprung up since the drive-in closed and were strung along the roadside. The place wasn’t for sale or anything. It just stood there deteriorating. I’ve always wondered what was it’s name and when it closed. There was another abandoned drive-in across the state line north of Paducah on the road to Metropolis Illinois. It had a large picture of an Indian chief painted on the back of the screen!